Deportivo too strong for Rayo Vallecano

After some enterprising early play from the home side nearly ended with a goal for Marin Ruz Quini from long range, it was Deportivo who struck first.

Luis Alberto produced a perfectly lofted pass for Celso Borges, who headed it in the bottom left corner from close range to put his side 1-0 up after just seven minutes.

Rayo Vallecano looked to have equalised five minutes later, but Javi Guerra's goal was ruled out for offside.

Fifteen minutes later, Rayo had their reward for a good period in possession as Raul Baena produced the assist for Adri Embarba, who fired home from close range.

But only seconds after regaining parity, the visitors were back in the lead through a magnificent solo effort from Alberto, on loan from Liverpool, who weaved his way through the defence before finding the back of the goal from the edge of the box with a stunner of a shot.

Both teams continued to make for an entertaining match, and Deportive nearly scored their third early in the second half through Faycal Fajr, who latched on to a precise pass that split the defence and fired towards the top right corner, only for Juan Carlos in goal to pull off a well-timed save.

That only delayed the inevitable, however. Just after the hour mark, a superb solo effort from Lucas Perez Martinez gave the visitors their third as he weaved through the defence before finding the bottom left corner.

Any hopes of a Rayo fightback were put to rest in thge 77th minute when Patrick Ebert was sent off for a dangerous tackle, much to the dismay of his teammates, who protested vehemently.

Despite the numerical advantage, Deportivo did not score any further goals, though they would have been more than satisfied with their efforts on the night.